Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said Wednesday that Lithuania is tightening its migration policy, but argued that language proficiency requirements should primarily apply to foreign nationals who live in the country long term and are employed in customer service.
His remarks comes amid calls from some politicians to introduce stricter Lithuanian language rules for foreign residents of the country.
Speaking to reporters, Kondratovič questioned whether Lithuanian language requirements are necessary for some categories of foreign workers who spend only limited time in the country.
“People who come to work are often not even in Lithuania,” he said. “We checked certain groups of drivers, and some are in Lithuania only nine days a year. There are cases where they are only here for a week in two years. So the question is: over four years, is it really necessary for them to know the Lithuanian language?”
He said language requirements should be focused on sectors involving direct contact with customers, such as food service and other public-facing roles.
